Saturday, October 22, 2011

I've had 2 Stampin' Up parties over the course of the past 2 weeks.....which is a lot for me! =-) Here are the cards that we made. I am still looking for one of the cards we made to photo, but haven't been able to lay my hands on it yet.

This is a really neat technique, but it works best if you allow the work with the ink pads etc.. on the glossy paper to dry over night. I also learned how to make this cute acorn using the Fancy Flowers Big Shot die and the large oval punch on Frenchie's blog too.

Card # 2 Fall Card using Day of Gratitude and Spice Cake dsp

I love the bold design of this set and the colors of the dsp--pool party, more mustard, and soft suede. I know I CASEd this from someone--if I figure out who I'll put in the link.

Card #3 Another Fall Card using Spice Cake dsp

This card was cased from Chic 'n Scratch. I made some slight changes--it uses a new set from the winter mini--Hand Penned Holidays, an a la carte stamp from the big catalog called Triple Treat Flower which coordinates with the Fancy Flower punch, the 5 Petal Flower punch and the 1/2 inch circle punch. The ribbon is the scallop dot ribbon turned upside down.

Card #4 Spooky Bingo Bits Peek-a-Boo Halloween Card

I was not going to buy the Big Shot Die in the mini--Peek-a-Boo frames because I was not going to make an advent calendar....then I looked at it from a different perspective and at the same time I started seeing other people who were doing the same thing--using an individual frame as a focal point on a card like a "lift a flap" in a children's book. I've seen this card on several blogs--I think someone made it as a swap card for the group of demonstrators that were in the top 100 this past year!

Very basic front of card -- lift the flap/window and here's what you see:

The inside of the card looks like this--I used the Halloween sentiment from Delightful Dozen.

I am really enjoying the Frightful Sight dsp also. I've used more Cajun Craze with it then I have in the past 2 years combined.

Card #5 A glimpse of Christmas!

This is a super easy card that I saw here on the blog Simple and Sincere. I really enjoy Jen's style and have a lot of her cards bookmarked to case. This uses the set Easy Events.

You can't tell it from here, but I added a touch of Dazzling Details on each of the red berries--very cute in real life!

Last, but not least.....#6 Witch's Hat 3-D Nugget Holder

This uses the petal cone die--and a scallop circle die embossed with the spider web embossing folder. I found the directions on line and when I can figure out where my directions are I'll post the link for you! Here's a link to one a bit like this one--not the exact tutorial I used, but almost--and there's a video with it too! I'm cleaning my stamp room tonight so hopefully this tutorial will show up as well as the missing card! Here's what it looks like from the back--not the best picture, but you get the idea!

Whew! Okay, can you tell I had trouble dialing back on all the fun fall ideas that I had? Sooo, instead I demonstrated 4 quickly and then we all made the Halloween card and witch's hat! I love getting together with this group of women. Such a stress reliever from everyday worries! I'm hoping all the cards at once will make up for my lack of posting lately. I should be able to get cards made to post next weekend as I am off for a day due to parent teacher conferences. E-mail me if you have any questions! Dawn

Monday, October 3, 2011

I finally had time to take some pictures using natural light--it really makes a huge difference with my camera. I posted most of them in my "how to make the cauldron" post, but didn't have a place to put in the cards.....so here they are with much better lighting! So easy....just used Spooky Bingo Bits and Frightful Sight dsp.

I used another little strip of dsp inside with a 2 3/4 square of whisper white and just stamped the "happy halloween" sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

Thanks for all the kind comments left by visitors! Here's how I made the cauldron---it's really very easy!

1. Cut 2-- 5 inch circles. I used my circle scissors cutter.
2. Trim about a 3/4 inch off 1 side of each circle to be the top of the pot.
3. Cut two rectangles 3/4 inches wide by 5 1/2 inches. Round all corners of each rectangle.
4. Glue the rounded rectangle to the top flat edge of each circle--making sure they match each other fairly well.

5. Punch out four 1 inch circles for the cauldron legs.

6. To make the handles punch first with a 1/2 inch circle punch then center that opening inside a 3/4 inch punch and punch it out--and you get the shape in my picture--you need four!

7. Make the box for the inside. Here are the measurements and where to score for a box to hold four 3 x 3 cards and envelopes:

a. Cut your cardstock to 5 1/2 by 7 inches.
b. On the 5 1/2 in. side score at 1 inch and 4 1/2 inches.
c. On the 7 in. side score at 3 in. and 4 in.
Put together using sticky strip.

Here are the measurements for a bit wider box if you want to have the cauldron hold a bag of treats!

a. Cut cardstock to 6 1/2 by 7 1/2
b. On the 6 1/2 inch side score at 1 1/2 inches and at 5 inches
c. On the 7 1/2 inch side score at 3 inches and 4 1/2 inches.

8. Attach the box with sticky strip inside the circles--there should be just a tiny bit of each corner showing that will be covered up by the circle "legs" of the cauldron. To attach legs to the bottom of the cauldron, I set the cauldron upright to make sure I positioned them in a way that the cauldron can remain standing. Attach the handles in the position you like.

9. Add the "brew" bubbling over with Dazzling Details.

I also made a broom because the cauldron seemed really bare to me with only the greeting on it!
To make the broom I stamped a scrap of soft suede cardstock with the woodgrain stamp and then cut off a piece 1/4 inch by 4 1/2 inches and just rounded the top with my scissors. I then sponged the edges with soft suede ink.
To make the broom part--I cut a crumb cake rectangle and fringed it with my scissors. Using glue dots to hold it I wrapped it around the broom handle and secured it with glue dots. I added the string/bow with hemp. Then finished it by sponging the broom part with soft suede and crinkling them out with my fingers to give the broom more dimension.

I think this would look great with a punch art witch standing in back of the cauldron--don't you?
BTW my greeting came from the SU set Grateful Greetings.

Here's what I used for the Owl Treat Bag:

1. One Early Espresso top note cut out from my Big Shot. Sponge edges with early espresso ink.
2. Fold top note in half.
3. For the eyes, punch out--two 1 1/4 inch circles from whisper white, two 1 inch circles from bashful blue and two 3/4 inch circles from black. For the eyelids punch out one 1 1/4" circle from early espresso, cut in half and sponge with early espresso ink.
4. Punch out two bird bodies from the bird punch and sponge with early espresso. Attach as "ear feathers" (not really ears, but they look like it).
5. Punch out 1 of the larger hearts from the three heart punch from more mustard cardstock for a beak--I chose the skinnier one--and sponged this also with early espresso.
6. Punch out one 2 3/8" scallop circle from early espresso, cut in half and sponge. Attach with glue dots for wings.
6. Punch out two five petal flowers from pumpkin pie--sponge with early espresso after you trim down to only 3 petals. These are attached with glue dots at the bottom of the bag. It took me several moves to get these positioned so they looked like owl talons.
Speaking of the bag--I used a 3 x 5 cello bag that I had in my stash.
Hope this helps! Have fun and be sure to e-mail me if you have any questions!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Hi Everyone! Thank you for hopping today with us, “Hopping Just for the Fun of it”. Have fun visiting all 17 of our stops this Saturday-- featuring Fall and Halloween projects. You probably have arrived here today from Patrice's blog, My Little Patch of Dirt. I am stop # 7 along the way this month.

As a first grade teacher (my day job), Halloween is a fun holiday in the classroom and is talked and written about every day from the moment October begins! For today's hop I created a Cauldron of Cards and a H"owl"oween Treat Bag. I'll post the details of my projects later this weekend when I have more time to type =-) --so for now enjoy!

I had a horrible time getting a good photo so here are a few of my cauldron and set of 3 x 3 cards to go in it!

I love the way this little treat owl turned out! I wish I would have had some fall colored m & m's around to fill the cello bag with. I think that would be even cuter!

Thanks for stopping by--hope you enjoyed my projects! Now, to continue our hop head on over to inkedx2 and check out Robbie's great project! If you get lost along the way you can go to the link above--"Hopping Just for the Fun of It" and get the whole lineup! Have a great Saturday!